Thursday, April 19, 2012

Large racial preferences induce insurmountable academic mismatch, degrading the quality of classroom instruction, hurting everyone including its intended beneficiaries. Esther Cepeda, a Hispanic writer, shared her bewildering experience of "becoming a minority" at Northwestern University in her 2012-03-01 Chicago Tribune article "The Year I Became a Minority"

Coming "from a diverse public college preparatory school and attended an equally diverse public university where no one ever felt anyone else got in because of affirmative action", she thought she earned a full-ride scholarship to the prestigious graduate program through her "strong undergraduate performance", only to find out the harsh realities:

o All of a sudden, she "formally became a minority". "In all my classes I was the official Hispanic, routinely called upon to enlighten my white classmates about Latino consumers' struggles in the barrio with English language acquisition, gangs, and discrimination – none of which I'd ever had any experience with".
o "I was not academically equal to my peers and woefully unprepared for the math-heavy statistical analysis needed to complete the basic courses in data mining. My low first-quarter grades put me on academic probation and I later ended up leaving school never having gotten that graduate degree"
o "The well-meaning admissions people who thought that I'd find a way to succeed academically were, as it turns out, a little too sunny about my potential, and I left with serious bruises on my psyche and ego. But it was painful preparation for the "real world" because since then I've not held a job — in teaching, government or journalism — where someone didn't imply, or flat out declare, that I got it just for being Hispanic."

Is Ms Cepeda being helped by the race conscious admission? No! Racial preferences lured her away from what could have been a very successful graduate career had she been placed in a good (but not the most competitive) graduate program commensurating with her pretty good (but not the top) qualifications. Racial preferences also hurt America's competitiveness by turning away the most qualified students, resulting in heartbreaking stories of the opposite kinds.

"One of the principal reasons race is treated as a forbidden classification is that it demeans the dignity and worth of a person to be judged by ancestry instead of his or her own merit and essential qualities." Rice v. Cayetano, 528 U.S. 495, 517 (2000)

We will try our ultimate best to influence the Supreme Court case, and other issues of Asian American concern. We are able to advocate for the As Am community because we do NOT take grants from the schools or the government. However, an operation of this scale costs money.

Will you support us by joining 80-20 or upgrading your membership TODAY?
Go to http://www.80-20initiative.net/membership/join.asp
Or send your check to: 80-20 PAC, 13337 South St. #189, Cerritos, CA 90703
Family membership is $50 (two), individual $35, student $15.

Monday, April 02, 2012

Private Danny Chen was a patriotic American who joined the US military to serve his country and was deployed to Afghanistan. He died in murky circumstance from non-combat injuries (gunshot wound) after suffering daily humiliations and racial abuses by hissupervisors for six weeks. These people have been charged but the most serious charges were recommended to be dropped. OCA-NY launched a petition campaign to request the military to move the secret Court Martials from Afghanistan to the US soil so that the evident against the defendants can be accessed by the Asian American stakeholders to prevent whitewashing. The 80-20 board passed a unanimous resolution to support the OCA-NY petition drive to maximize the chance that justice can be served. Asian American unity is of ultimate importance.

------------------On a separate matter, 80-20 EF College Survey data is being processed. After 3000+ duplicate removal, the total distinct individuals dropped below 50000. Need 1200 more votes from people who have NOT yet voted. Will you help by urging your spouse, children, parents, friends, colleagues to VOTE TODAY.

Do you like your names in the official record of the Supreme Court brief and permanently displayed in the 80-20 website (coming soon)? One day, you can show the list to your children and grandchildren that your action in 2012 made a difference in their future.

Apathy is a disease we must overcome before we can be first class citizen. We salute all who had shown their courage of conviction, no matter whether you are FOR or AGAINST the 80-20's position of race-neutral merit-based college admissions. You are actors in unfolding Asian American history, whereas others are just mere audience. To those ultimate skeptics in the audience who never does or believe in anything, we have this to say:

"Failure is not the outcome. Failure is NOT trying." -Sara Blakely.

We will try our ultimate best to influence the Supreme Court case, and other issues of Asian American concern. Will you help us sustain the fight?